The pilot Traumatic Coma Data Bank has collected information on 581 patients with severe head injuries, drawn from six centers in the United States. These data are being analyzed to identify patterns of injury and type of accident as they vary from center to center, by patient demographic characteristics, season and time of day. By profiling the characteristics of the 58 children in the data bank, it was found that pedestrian accidents were the most frequent cause of injury and that falls were most common among infants and toddlers. The sex ratio varied with age being 2:1 (male excess) in children, almost 4:1 in the middle ages and about 1:1 in the 60 and older age group. Case fatality rates also differed by age, but not by sex.